Andrew Hughes

Nic and I have started Adventure Learning Australia to pursue our shared goal of embedding adventure in education. Like most teachers we are committed to the idea that education is the key to unlocking the positive potential in all students. We are also convinced that outdoor education and experiential learning are powerful ways to build real understanding about the world around us, and also to develop the person within us.

I studied geology at the University of Tasmania and worked briefly in an underground gold mine in Western Australia before starting a bushwalking business called Mad Wombat Guides. Ill fated as the name suggests, it only lasted two Tasmanian summers. After completing a postgraduate primary school teaching degree, I taught for one year at public school before letting adventure learning take over my life. For the past 12 years — through Expedition Class and more recently with the Bookend Trust — I have been part of a team that has developed primary and high school programs that have reached more than 30,000 students in every corner of Australia. I continue to work closely with the Bookend Trust to develop new projects and we are currently collaborating on the Swag Family project.

Nicola Hughes

Like Andrew I’ve been fortunate to make adventure a continuous part of my life, even as we’ve had two children enter our lives. With a Masters in Criminology from the University of Tasmania, I’ve been very interested in wilderness therapy techniques to help out kids that find themselves in difficult personal situations. This interest led to several years working with the now defunct Wilderness Program that grew out of Project Hahn in Tasmania. Filling in the gaps as an outdoor guide working in tourism and schools eventually led to becoming a teacher in outdoor education in a Hobart school. I currently work part-time in this role and have been given 12 months off for the Swag Family project. A lot of the skills that I employ as a teacher are proving a good match for Adventure Learning Australia.